The song marks the first time that guitarist and songwriter Mike Deslandes has performed vocals on a High Tension track, his hook on Rise adds a beautiful balance to Karina’s barbarous growl creating a sound for the band that has never been heard before.

High Tension will kick off their album tour in Hobart on June 15 with a performance at Dark Mofo’s Night Mass, the four-piece will then play headline shows in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. High Tension will also play at Adelaide festival A Day Of Clarity.

WATCH “RISE“ HERE

The band’s third album is a fierce piece of work, filled with the sound of frustration, fear, disgust, horror, hatred and – yes – rage, spewed up and moulded into the Melbourne quartet’s most extreme statement yet.

While tradition would suggest heavy acts only lose their intensity with each record, the opposite is true of High Tension. “This was always the direction we were heading into.” Says vocalist Karina Utomo.

After forming in Melbourne in 2012, High Tension’s debut album, the following year’s Death Beat, was nominated for an ARIA Award for Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal album, while its follow-up, 2015’s Bully, received widespread critical acclaim and saw the group hit the road in support of acts such as Refused.

The High Tension of 2018, however, is a different beast to the one that released those records, thanks to the presence of Mike Deslandes and drummer Lauren Hammel, who both joined after the release of Bully in 2015. (Co-founding bassist Matt Weston completes the line-up). In that regard, Utomo views Purge as a resetting of the High Tension blueprint.

“It was inevitable that we were going to produce a record unlike our previous work; with Lauren and Mike joining the band, our natural response was to reshape our sound.”

I must outwardly admit that this album is keenly anticipated by all at Silver Tiger Media, and I will try my very best to remain objective. But it must be stated firmly and fervently, the expansive dichotomy between The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack and this most recent release, it truly inspirational. One wonders what may be possible for Sixx A.M. now Nikki has time away from the Mötley Crüe commitments and the band is sounding this magnificent already. I feel the skies are no longer a limit for Sixx A.M.

Rise has already enjoyed much acclaim from willing ears, and scarcely a wonder with this uplifting and powerful track. A true track of unity, compelling us to right wrongs and make a difference. Rise individually, Rise locally, Rise globally. Inspirational to the last chord, and echoing into one’s personal existence. Then, as You Have Come To The Right Place hits you aural canals, a stark realisation slaps you like a mouthy ‘ho’. This is sheer excellence and, quite obviously, Sixx A.M. are only just getting started. They punch into this track with a distinct and determined ferocity, yet at the same time controlled to achieve the collective goal, namely music the band believe in. there is just no need to sell music like this. It is that superior and ill wager Sixx A.M. know exactly what they have. A benchmark. A truly sensational achievement.

I’m Sick is as passionate and determined as I have ever heard a track before. Truly remarkable vocally, lyrically and instrumentally. This is a tremendously powerful track with every ounce of emotional investment becoming apparent from the outset. And we listeners reap the return on the bands investment, and in spades. Amazing. I hate to coin an overused contemporary phrase and say ‘this is next level’, but the stark reality is that the aforementioned phrase is remarkably accurate. We have always know each individual protagonist involved, delivers their paramount performance every time they strike a chord, a skin or wail in vocal perfection, but this is really different for Sixx A.M. This is magnificent and beyond compare to any preceding release. In short, they were always brilliant together, but this? This is something else entirely. My vocabulary leaves me wanting to accurately describe the communal brilliance recorded on this collection.

Prayers For The Damned is inherently chilling. Forthright in content, applicable to your own unique set of demons, but executed to emotional perfection. The solos illicit feelings of a guitar truly weeping in desperate hope. Amazing stuff and little wonder why this is the title track, and primary subject matter of the double release.

The more one plays this album and relaxes back to reality following bewildered astonishment, the more you benefit from isolating the individual contributions. Every performance is so ‘on point’ and astonishing that perhaps that is the very difference between this release and Modern Vintage which is a tremendous album in its own right. The unmistakable similarities certainly exist but Prayers For The Damned is so characteristically important that it is catapulted by the band, collectively, into the annals of rock history.

The track sequence is of paramount importance, and that is highlighted by the placement of Better Man. A tremendous ballad, but also opportunity to take a breath and allow the story to unfold, sans thorough bewilderment. Through such efficient track management, the journey is a genuine experience of monumental proportions. Name your current affair. Terrorism, inequality, politics, our impact upon the environment globally, it doesn’t matter… it all fits to a tee. RISE.

Can’t Stop, and its unique instrumental accompaniment, rallies the united determination at a critical time. We are back and determined. Oh, by the way…it’s a sensational track musically too. But it is fundamentally futile to try and quell the emotions rising within.

When We Were Gods is a boisterous blending of emotional, heartfelt lyrics and malevolent instrumental accompaniment. And it works so sensationally well. One imagines the torment of the gods, watching in awe of the magnificence of their creations, all gone awry. The archetypical yin and yang. The rudimentary angst. To create, to afford free will, and watch self-destruction. Gods or demons? Gods or men?

Belly Of The Beast is as equally thought provoking as any track before. But something so very powerful has already stirred in the soul of the listener. I find myself examining my words and reflecting upon the very motivation for penning. Challenging lyrics and powerful music bringing attention to how our movements in life resonate through that which is left behind, and all that will follow.

The remaining tracks, through thoroughly brilliant in rock character, I cannot help but leave to the listener. Everything Went To Hell, The Last Time and Rise Of The Melancholy Empire are best left without comment and for the listener to experience. Needless to say you will be astounded say that Sixx A.M. have knocked this one out of the park would be a shameful understatement. Out of the stratosphere, maybe and stamped their mark on contemporary music history. Perhaps. But this is truly something else.

This album is a masterpiece of contemporary commentary, political and socioeconomically, all made manifest in musical magnificence. And this is just Volume 1. Holy shit!

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